Magic
Magic: Magic, wizardry, the Art - the practice of Magic has many names. The forces of magic allows one to unbind and unravel the laws of the mortal realm if one is sufficiently trained within it, but be careful - it is a fickle ally, and might as well destroy the caster if used carelessly. Magic involves ejecting the inner essence of ones being and then manipulating this free energy into various forms. This takes both practice and talent, as it involves a lot of mental gymnastics and abstract problem solving. = Demographics: All creatures have a small font of magic within themselves - it is generally regarded by most people as their 'soul', the divine essence that separates them from inanimate objects. The race of Man is generally the most magically gifted of them all, but most Men have not a soul big enough to even light a candle. However, one person in 250 is born with an above average reservoir of essence, however how much the difference is varies. Magic appears to run in lineages, and seem to be recessive when it comes to genetics. Magical strength seems to be exist in lineages as well, which makes many mages very selective who to have children with, as it might decide the fate of their children and in extension, their family, for years to come. Use: Magic can be used for a variety of things and is divided into several disciplines - although many have overlap. Ignæ: The lore of heat and cold, Ignæ is a school that specializes in the transferal of heat. Mainly, this school is attributed to mages that sling around balls of fire, and although they are likely Ignætics, this discipline is not merely limited to that. Although all mages are capable of drawing heat from their surroundings in order to, say, light a candle, not everyone has the mastery to make that process a hundredfold more efficient - for example, incinerating a house in moment. Master Ignætics eventually learn how to draw heat from organic creatures, and can freeze people into statues of ice, or boil their blood to steam. Most naval mages practice Ignæ as their main discipline, because Ignæ is the school involved in the creation of winds and currents, because those in return rely on discrepancies of heat. Vití: Vití is the arcane discipline associated with life, healing and death. It is also involved in the manipulation and creation of lightning. This confounds many people, as one would assume lightning would belong to some other discipline, but the generation of lightning is in fact the amplification of ones own bioelectricity, which falls under the jurisdiction of Vití. Vitíligists are either feared, loved or hated - perhaps all three. While the discipline allows one to mend wounds and heal deadly diseases, it also allows one to inflict the very wounds and diseases one can mend with it. Even worse, the creation of the Night Horrors is generally attributed to these mages, for they are the only mages capable of such grim magic. Necromancers also find their place within this discipline, but are niche enough to generally not be considered Vitíligists, for their art is a blend between Menc and Vití, binding the souls of the dead to corpses, all the while keeping those corpses in fighting condition. Menc: Menc is the discipline of the mind, far-sight, telepathy and a variety of different things. Mencians are generally frowned upon as their abilities to read minds are unnerving to most, if not all, and their famed ability to control people like puppets are feared and hated throughout all lands. Most mages dabble in this art, however, as it includes the methods of protecting oneself from Mencian assaults, but usually specialize in this only. Mot: The discipline of Mot is the discipline most mages first manifest their power within. Perhaps they managed to roll over a ball, or animate their broom to clean by itself when they were 6. All mages know how to create a basic kinetic shield or launch a chair across a room, but few can make that into an art. Moti, along with Ignætics, are the mages that are by far the most prolific in war, purely because they are the most practical in battle. The difference, apart from their abilities, is their mindset. An Ignætic is rewarded by keeping a fervent yet pragmatic mentality, open for any opening or opportunity. A Motus, however, is rewarded for being absolutely and completely stoic - unbreaking in his concentration, aware that a single break of his attention may result in the death of hundreds. Moti take the basic Motic ability of any mage and turn it into a craft. Capable of lifting tons with their minds, they are often called 'Soil-launchers' by soldiers, when not under scrutiny of said cannons, for their main role in battle is to act as heavy artillery, often using extremely packed soil as ammunition. Magic in Warfare: After the discovery of the firearm, magic has changed within war. Before the firearm, a magician was an army on his own - arrows nor blades could not penetrate the kinetic shields of even a layman mage and normal Men could do nothing but watch his troops be slaughtered. When the firearm was invented, Men suddenly could fight the Mage, (which itself led to the fall of the First Empire), and magic suddenly had a much more auxiliary role in battle: * Ignætics ** Ignætics generally serve on the front lines, in the thick of battle. These are considered to be a requirement for any fighting force and the recommended ratio of Ignætics to infantrymen is 1:25. ** The role of the Ignætic is to protect his assigned men from Ignætical attacks, as well as trying to pierce an opening in the enemy Ignætic's defenses. This becomes a violently quick and intense battle of wits, skill and power, or it can become a standstill, where magic will not push the tide any way and Steel will have to prove his mettle. A battle where one side has Ignætics and one side does not almost always ends with the Ignætic victory, for such is the power of heat. ** The duel between these two Ignætics is described by Infantrymen fighting during it as 'spooky', 'off' and 'strange', due to the weird atmospheric effects created. Wind move in unnatural patterns, temperatures flick and frost forms on equipment, only to disappear a moment later. ** Ignætic battlemages generally dip their training in Mot in order to improve their kinetic shields as well as improve their offensive capability - sometimes, a thrown dagger can turn the tide of a battle, if well aimed. * Vitíligists ** Vitíligists generally do not participate in battle. They are far too useful as healers to actually partake in action most of the time. Healers mainly follow the main force of an army and stay back during the fighting, healing the injured and increasing the battle-value of the force greatly. The mere presence of Vitíligists improves the morale incredibly much. ** Some Vitíligists, like those in the employ of Twistwine, use the necromantic arts instead of healing, raising those fallen on both sides as undead cannon-fodder for the conflict. ** Lightning is an ability that can be utilized by sufficiently skilled Vitíligists but is generally not used in battle, even though it has major advantages. It cannot be blocked, it arcs between victims, but the downsides are too great - it is wasteful when it comes to essence and one cannot maintain a kinetic field at the same time one blasts lightning, thus one becomes not only a beacon of light, one also becomes severely vulnerable to all kinds of attack. The only reason they are deployed, although sparsely, is to counter the rare but potent Titan attack. * Mencians ** Mencians have next to none true combat ability, as their mind-control abilities are not very effective against disciplined troops. However, fighting against irregular troops like peasants, it could be effective, but often a hail of flame is more effective. ** Mencians generally take upon a role of communication in war, since instant-communication grants a military force a great advantage over those that do not. Indeed, a force without any telepaths is doomed if set against one with them. ** Although not confirmed, there are rumors that some Mencians work as military intelligence, using their abilities to get information that is classified. * Moti ** Moti are known by many names. Soil-launchers, titans, blanks - they are the by far most feared and awed of mages. They function in modern war as incredible and mobile artillery pieces, constantly bombarding the enemy with rock, packed soil and whatever can be found. The other side of the conflict is doing that, as well, and so these Moti both defend and bombard, dotted throughout the fighting force. ** Sometimes, when a commander is desperate and do not care about losses - or merely has more mages than he has sense, he may order Moti to engage directly upon the front lines. Mages involved in these assaults are classified as Titans, if only for the time being. These great Mages cannot be hurt by cannons nor can they be touched by metal - their godlike kinetic shields are far too strong for that. *** There are, however, ways to kill these prodigious foes: split their attention. All Mages, even the greatest, can only focus on so many times at once. Marksmen are instructed to keep a steady hail upon the Moti, Ignætics are instructed to try to both chill and burn the Titan at as many vector they can manage. Eventually, the Titan's concentration will crack and perhaps, only for a second, a kinetic shield will flicker and a musket ball will pass through, ending him. *** The losses are always great for the opposing side, however, as the Titan can crush the very hearts of his enemies if he is close enough, redirect cannonfire back into enemy lines and animate the very weaponry of his enemies. Titans have one great weakness, though - lightning. If a competent Vilítigist gets close enough, the Titan is dead, but unfortunately this is not always the case.